Portal:Space exploration/Featured/February 2007



Atmospheric reentry is the process by which vehicles that are outside the atmosphere of a planet can enter that atmosphere and reach the planetary surface intact. Vehicles that undergo this process include spacecraft from orbit, as well as suborbital ICBM reentry vehicles. Typically this process requires special methods to protect against aerodynamic heating. Various advanced technologies have been developed to enable atmospheric reentry and flight at extreme velocities.

The technology of atmospheric reentry was a consequence of the Cold War. Ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons were legacies of World War II left to both the Soviet Union and the United States. Both nations initiated massive research and development programs to further the military capability of those technologies.

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